Historic amphitheater turned out to be massive tourist scam for years

For years, tourists have been deceived by a “historic” amphitheater that was actually built recently. The Italian con artist behind this ingenious construction has been convicted.

For years, tourists flocked to Vicenza thinking they were visiting a centuries-old Roman amphitheater. In reality, it was a modern fake, carefully staged by the Italian con artist Franco Malosso “von Rosenfranz.” The 69-year-old man has now been sentenced to two years and four months in prison for illegal construction, forgery of works of art, and construction without a permit. Malosso claimed to have discovered the so-called Berico maritime amphitheater in 2005 following a landslide. According to his account, the site dated back to the year 393, and Julius Caesar had even stopped there on his return journey from Egypt with Cleopatra. The site was also said to be linked to Juliet Capulet, Shakespeare’s famous character. He charged 40 euros per visitor for admission.

Historical inaccuracies

His story was so convincing that even the local authorities in Vicenza had included the site in an official tourist guide and an app, both funded by the European Union. It wasn’t until 2016 that the first serious doubts arose, when historians realized that these claims could not possibly be true. Julius Caesar, in fact, lived several centuries before the amphitheater was supposedly built, and Juliet was from Verona, not Vicenza.

Exposed as a fraud

A thorough investigation by the Carabinieri revealed that this “ancient” structure was not ancient at all, but was made of fiberglass, papier-mâché columns, plaster, and plaster statues dating from the early 2000s. Satellite images also showed that Malosso had first leveled a hill and then set up his own fake archaeological site there. In addition to the prison sentence, he was also fined 3,000 euros. The municipality of Arcugnano, south of Vicenza, is also seeking 560,000 euros in damages for the losses caused by this scandal, which has tarnished its image and harmed tourism.